Automatic cylinder cock with relief valve



June 11, 1935.

A. G. HOLLINGSHEAD El AL AUTOMATIC CYLINDER COCK WITH RELIEF 'VALVE Filed June 22, 1951 5 J6 J0 J4JZ 7 25%;? ao zw jizz/ezazars:

Patented June 11, 1935 UNITED STATES AUTOMATIC CYLINDER COCK WITH RELIEF VALVE j Arthur G. Hollingshead and Curtis W. Pmen, ohicago, Ill., assignors to the Okadee Company, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application June'22, 1931, Serial No. 545,955

1 Claim.

This invention relates in general to pressure relief or drain valves, and. more particularly, to that type of valve generally known as a cylinder cock and applied to the cylinders of a steam en- 5 gine for draining water of condensation therefrom, the device ofthis invention having a valve structure characterized by the feature of being responsive to the flow of fluid under pressure such as steam or the like, but unresponsive to the flow of liquid therethrough, together with certain other improvements which will later appear herein.

While the invention is illustrated and described as particularly adapted to, and constructed for employment on, a steam locomotive cyliriderfor draining water of condensation therefrom, it will be understood that the invention is adapted for employment inother' installations and, there fore, finds a wide field of utility.

'It has been found, in practice on railway loco motives. that, where an automatic cylinder cock is employed, that is to say, a drain valve which has 'a valve member therein which is adapted to close after the water ofcondensation has been drained, that, while the engineis working steam and is in motion, even when super-heated steam' i is used, cylinder heads have been blown owing to the collection of a' quantity of water of condensation' in'the'cylinders or in the dry pipe or on the side of the steam line beyond the superheater, that is, between the super-heater and the cylinders which water of condensatoin forms into a shot which travels down into the cylinder and does not escape through the exhaust passages, but either collects at one end of the cylinder and thus blowsthe cylinder head, or is added to by additional shots of water of condensation from the boiler eventually resulting in damage to the cylinder heads or undue strain on the Working parts of the engine. This water of condensationunder ordinary circumstances cannot escapefrom the cylinder through the draincocks inasmuch as they are usually closed, either inanually or automatically, while the engineis working steam and can be opened only by the manual or other means under the control of the engineman. 7 i

It is one of the objects of our invention to provide for means which will automatically allow of the escape of such shots of water of condensation as may, unknown to the the engineman, collect while the engine is in normal operation and to this end our invention is characterized in one of its embodiments by the provision of an improved form of cylinder cock having an automatic closing valve member adapted to close whenwater of condensation has been blown from the cylinder, and which is also characterized by an improved means calibrated to operate at pressures above the normal steam pressure in the cylinder, that is to say, will operate to open the cylinder to atmosphere through the cylinder cock by the pressures occurring in the cylinder and cylinder becomes compressed at one end of'the cylinder by r a piston; the provision of an improved cylinder cock wherein an auxiliary valve controlling an opening to atmosphere is incorporated for relieving pressures beyond a predetermined amount occurring in the cylinder; the provision of an auxiliary valve calibrated to open on the establishment of pressures beyond a predetermined amount in a steam engine cylinder, said valve being auxiliary to any other form of cylinder cock valve attached to the cylinder. In the present invention we prefer to illustrate the same as associated with the cylinder cock which is in part shown in the patent to Ayers No. l.'704,81'7, though the calibrated valve may be applied to the conventional cylinder cock if desired.

This invention is further characterized by the provision of an automatic relief valve which may be conveniently applied to the cylinder of the steam engine; an automatic relief valve which may be bodily applied, if desired, to any fitting on the engine cylinder as an auxiliary to the usual form of cylinder cock; and the provision of a de-' vice of the'character described which is inexpensive in manufacture and simple in operation and requires little or no attention over long periods'of service.

The foregoing" and such other objects as" may appear or be pointed'out as this description proceeds are-attained in the structural embodiments of i this invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which: V

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the drain valve incorporating the improvements of this. invention; I

Figure 2'is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; I

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the invention shown in Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of an alternative form of the invention.

Referring nowmore particularly to the drawing, and first to Figures l to 3, both inclusive, we provide a casing 5, which casing is elongated and provided with threaded openings 6 and l at opposite ends thereof. 7

The casing is provided with an internal double partition 8 thus dividing the casing into two chambers, one of which, indicated at 9, is a valve and a valve seat chamber, and the other of which, indicated at it, is cylindrically bored to form a cylinder for the valve unseating element.

The Opening 1 is closed by the plug H having a threaded extension 12 for engagement with the threads in said opening. The plug H is provided with a wrench square It for facilitating its removal when desired; Within the cylinder H) We provide a'piston I4 having a piston rod I5 extending through the partition 3, thelatter having an aperture formed with an enlarged bearing l6 for guiding said piston rod. A helical spring ii is interposed between the piston l4 and the partition 3 which tends to keep the pistonin position shown in Figure 2. A connection for fluid under pressure is provided at L8 as shown in Figure 1 and through a port l9 communicates with the right hand side of the piston M as viewed in Figure 2, the cap or closure i I having abutment portions 20 which form space be yond the piston at one end of its stroke. v

The inner end of the piston rod is reduced as indicated at 2| to form a plunger which extends through the partition 8, this partition being formed so as to provide an auxiliary partition 8a and between these partitions 8 and 8a an exhaust passage 22 to atmosphere is afforded. It will thus be seen that the exhaust passage 22 is located between the valve seat chamber 9 and the cylinder I0.

Within the valve seat chamber 9, there are provided valve seat members 23 and 24. The valve seat members 23 and 24 are provided with complemental ports 25 and 26 which communi cate with the exhaust passageway 22 and the passageway to the cylinder, respectively. The

valve seat members fit snugly within the chambers and are internally provided with valve seats 27 and 28 in opposed relationship, and also with complemental risers 29 and 30 whose. adjacent portions are relatively steeper as indicated at 3! and 32, respectively, thereby forming agroove 33 in which a ball valvemember 34 is adapted to lie when in open or neutral position. v

The valve seat members are fixedly retained in abutment with each other within the chamber 9, and the passageway 35 communicates with said valve seat members and with a port 35 provided with securing means indicated at 3'! for attaching same to a cylinder of a locomotive engine or the like. 7

The essential parts of the structure just described are found in the patent to Ayers mentioned herein, and, aside from their cooperation with the elements of the present invention, are not essential to the successful operation of the present invention as it is susceptible of application to cylinder cocksof types different from that shown in the drawing.

The valve seat members 23 and 24 are held in operative position in the chamber 9 by the provision of a plugmember 38 threaded in the opening 6, said plug member having projecting lugs 39, 39to abut the adjacent surface of one of the valve members and thus retain the latter in position.

The plug member 38 carries bodily the auxiliary relief valve of this invention and is provided with an axial port 48 communicating at one end with the passageway 35 and with atmosphereat its opposite end. Within the port 40 there is provided a relief valve element 4|, the latter having a spider portion 42 extending into the port 40 so that it is guided in its movementto and from the beveled valve seat provided at the outer end of said port and indicated at 43.

The valve member 4| is held on its seat by the provision of a helical spring 44, preferably formed of square spring metal, the outer end of said spring being in abutment with the spring seat 44a formed on a cap 45, which latter is internally threaded at 47 to engage the external threads on the plug member 38. This cap member 45 performs the dual function of compressing the spring 44 and of forming a lock nut for the plug 38. The exhaust to atmosphere upon the unseating of the valve M is accomplished by the provision of a series of slots 48 formed in the curved bonnet portion 49 of the cap 45. The outer portion of the cap 45 is squared as shown in Figure l to facilitate its application to and removal from the plug member 38. The plug member 38 is, in turn, provided with slotted lugs or extensions 50 to facilitate the application of a wrench thereto for insertion and removal of said plug. 7 n In the normal operation of the cylinder cock and auxiliary relief valve of this invention, the ball member 34 is balanced in the groove 33, so that when the locomotive engine is at rest and water of condensation is collecting in the cylinders, the ball will be held in the groove 33 so that such water of condensation will drain from the cylinder. Upon the admission of steam to the cylinder for starting the engine, the steam pressure blows substantially all of the water of condensation out of the cylinder past the ball valvemem: her before the latter engages its seat 21. The engineman may at any time unseat the ball-34 by admitting air under pressure to the cylinder which forces the piston to the left, as viewed in Figure 2, which will unseat the ball valve member 34. However, when the locomotive is working steam, water of condensation will collect at times and run into the cylinder suddenly, without the knowledge of the engineman, and as in normal operation the ball valve member 34 is on the seat 27 when the engine is working steam, damage may result, and in actual practice has resulted in damage to the cylinders, such as blowing the cylinder head and the like. 7 7

In order to avoid such an occurrence, it will be understood that the spring member 44 urging the valve 4| in the normal closed position is calibrated to withstand the normal working steam pressures admitted to the locomotive cylinders so that the valve 4| in such instances is inactive and holds its seat against the escape of steam. However, upon the excessive pressures developing in the cylinder cock and cylinder due to the shot of saturated steam or water of condensation reaching the cylinder and, the passage 35 in the cylinder cook, the valve M will be raised from its seat against the tension of the spring 44 and thus drain such water of-condensation to atmosphere It will be understood further that the plug member 38 and its associated valve member spring and cap 45 may be bodily applied to any standard cylinder cock structure if the proper measurements are employed so that the invention as a combination is not dependent for its operation solely on the form of valve and cylinder cock illustrated in the drawing but is of general utility.

Referring now to Figure 4, an alternative form of cylinder cock is there shown giving a further example of the possibility of universal application of this invention, and in this form of the invention the casing 52 of the cylinder cock is shown provided with a passageway 35a, valve seat members 23a and 24a and a ball valve member 34a. adapted to engage one or the other of the valve seats shown at 21a and 28a.

. The valve member 4| has its counterpart at 4 l a in Figure 4 and a spring a of a helical form, but of material having cylindrical cross section, serves to hold the valve member 4| a in position to close the relief passageway 40 to atmosphere.

The functioning of the valve shown in Figure 4 is substantially identical with that shownin Figures 1 and 2, and the ball valve member 340. may be actuated, if desired, by the form of cylinder and piston construction shown in Figure 2.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

In a cylinder drain cock, in combination, a

casing having a connection to a cylinder and an ber for said opening having an aperture, a valve seat formed'in said closure member, a bonnet member internally threaded and adapted to be carried by said closure member, said bonnet member being adapted to abut said casing to act as a lock nut on said closure member, and a spring interposed between said valve member and said bonnet member within said closure member for holding said valve member in closed position but saidspringcalibrated to permit opening of said second valve upon predetermined pressure being established in said casing.

ARTHUR G. HOLLINGS-HEAD. CURTIS W. PLOEN. 

